I have looked at Yahoo & Google groups and feel like a bulletin board with a little more flexibility and less advertising would be preferred. I have supplied a link to a Bulletin Board / Forum similar to what I mean. Of course it would be school topic titles and information instead of antique tractors…or maybe tractors are more interesting [img]smile.gif[/img] .

higgins.homelinux.com/forum/index.php

I can't seem to find many schools using this type of format? Maybe someone here can help direct me?

I set up a Yahoo Group last year with the purpose of sending out our school's weekly newsletter, along with other communication from the school. I limit it to two e-mails a week (unless there's a crisis or emergency). It was alot of work setting up and entering the e-mails but after that it's just maintenance. We have about 370 names on our e-mail list now and this includes parents and faculty. It is not an interactive group (people cannot respond or send out e-mails to the group). It is only for the dispersing out information.

The only downsides I have figured with Yahoo (and I STRESS I am not a computer genius): I can't alphabetize the address book. For example, if your name is Susie Jones and your e-mail is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. I could not look you up under "J" but you're alphabetized under "S" for your e=mail address. So, it's sort of a pain when I'm trying to find a name on the list. Also, there's a maximum size that you can e=mail out. Occasionally, when we have a huge newsletter (like 8 pages), it's too big to send out. Someone on this website gave me the good suggestion to just upload the newsletter as a file for the group and e-mail a link to it, which I think will work.

If you have the energy to set it up, it is FABULOUS. What's nice for our school is that we are a K3-8 school, so our families are there for a long period of time, so there's not as much annual revision of the list.

Good luck.
SHC

Works great for communication, if folks read their email which a lot of ours do. The problem is establishing the initial data base. We only do PTO members, and even that is 250 email addresses. Of course you get the ones that bounce back and the folks that change. But once it is up and running, it is fabulous. Lots of communication. We use our website as our bulletin board (we're building a new one now) and also distro a newsletter so all school parents get information. That is the biggest challenge with this...getting the word out.

Does anyone here use an electronic bulletin board or forum for communication, announcements, mass e-mail, polls & information gathering within your school population?

What kind of problems were you confronted with? Does it work well for communication? What kind of input and suggestions can you provide that may help us get one going?

Any comments would be appreciated.